According to dating website Match.com, the ideal British woman is 5ft 6in with brown hair, blue eyes, a pretty face, sexually confident but willing to share the housework, has a sense of adventure, is good at finances, has her own opinion but isn’t opinionated and is also cheerful, friendly and outgoing. And apparently that’s Countdown number cruncher Carol Vorderman. Which is just as well, as she got the most votes in the survey (17 per cent), followed closely by Fearne Cotton.

That description doesn’t apply elsewhere. In France and Spain, an ideal woman is the Latin type with jet black hair (F: 39% / S:49%), brown eyes (F:34% / S:40%) and with an immaculate sense of style (F:47% / S:27%). French men want a woman who enjoys going out and likes to experiment in bed (42%), whilst Spanish men prefer a confident lover (48%). Sophie Marceau was tops for French men (28%) and Angelina Jolie topped the Spanish poll (26%).

For women, there was more consistency in results. George Clooney topped the women’s poll in France, Germany and Spain. Although in Britain, the votes went to Big Brother’s celebrity skinhead Dermot O’Leary.